Rahal Hopes to Erase Indy Memory

Rahal Hopes to Erase Indy Memory

Article excerpt

If Bobby Rahal breaks into a cold sweat and starts feeling a
lump in his throat this weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,
no one need dial 911 for medical assistance.

The track will open for practice Saturday, and Rahal will try
to fine-tune his Miller Genuine Draft racer before qualifying for
the Indianapolis 500 begins May 14.

Returning to Indy after last year's embarrassing showing won't
be easy for Rahal until he actually puts his car into the field. A
year ago, Rahal and St. Louisan Carl Hogan ran into a road block at
Indy with their new made-in-America chassis.

The Rahal-Hogan chassis carried the names of the team's
co-owners. They had hoped to become the first team to win the Indy
500 with an American car since Gordon Johncock drove Pat Patrick's
Wildcat to the winner's circle in 1982.

Rahal and Hogan had beaten the odds in 1992 by winning the PPG
Cup title in their first year together.

That gave them the confidence to make the bold move with a new
chassis last year. Unfortunately, even though the team worked hard,
it couldn't come up with enough speed to make the 33-car field.

Rahal qualified but was bumped with 16 minutes remaining on the
last day of qualifications. He then failed to requalify.

The month was brutal for Rahal, the 1986 Indy 500 winner. He
and Hogan had come to Indianapolis armed with one of the best
sponsorship packages in racing, from Miller, and couldn't get a car
into the race.

"That was pretty lonely," Rahal said after qualifying ended.
"I felt badly for the team. Obviously, I was humbled by it and, to
some extent, embarrassed."

Until Rahal gets his car firmly into the field this year, the
talk will center around what happened last year. Rahal understands
and politely fielded questions from motor sports reporters via a
teleconference call this week.

"It was very disappointing and an emotional time for everybody
on the team," he said. "But two days after we didn't qualify,
Miller extended our contract. That really helped us. It's easy to
be gracious when you're winning all the time. The real test is to
be gracious when you are not."